Northeast Ohio communities have tight grip on state funds for shared services

Updated Apr 29, 2014; Posted Apr 29, 2014

Northeast Ohio Communities are snagging state grants and loans to explore shared services at a higher rate than the rest of the state. One of those financial awards went to four west suburbs of Cleveland, including Rocky River, who are considering the formation of a joint fire district.

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Northeast Ohio communities lead the state in landing loans and grants awarded by the state to promote the sharing of government services or the pooling of resources.

Communities in the region secured more than a third of the nearly 150 loans and grants awarded by the state since 2012 to merge fire and emergency medical services or to jointly tackle lawn care at parks and sewer repairs, state records show.

A review of the records by the Northeast Ohio Media Group found that the region's 18 counties - from Richland to Ashtabula, and including Cuyahoga - collectively received about $5.3 million to fund collaboration programs. That is about a quarter of the total $20 million or so provided throughout the state.

That regional dominance comes as no surprise to State Auditor Dave Yost, who said last month that Cleveland suburbs paved the way for the rest of the state some 40 years ago by forming the Westshore Council of Governments in the 1970s.The council includes officials from Lakewood, Fairview Park, North Olmstead, Bay Village, Rocky River and Westlake.

But in the past few years, more cities have joined the trend — a result, many observers say, of the region's particularly harsh economic struggles, perhaps compounded by state budget cuts.

Members of the council of governments are putting a $100,000 state grant toward a possible merger of four fire departments into one fire district — a move the grant application said could save four cities more than $18 million over the first three years.

The "current economic environment," the application said, has made the traditional model of separate fire and EMS services "no longer sustainable." It's a measure, Bay Village Law Director Gary Ebert said, that is a direct result of state funding cuts, and trying to find a cheaper way to serve residents.

Money from the state's local government fund that went to Bay Village fell from about $657,000 in 2002 to about $145,000 in 2012, according to state audits.

One of the first loans the state awarded went to three local governments in Summit County that recently teamed up to create a common EMS dispatch center, initially saving each community hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The hub, shared by Copley Township, Barberton and Norton, features updated technology that would have cost each government about $400,000 to $500,000, Copley Fire Chief Mike Benson said. Instead, they all went in on buyingone $600,000 system. The program was kick-started, in part, by a $300,000 loan from the state in 2012.

Benson said none of his employees was laid off. An earlier pilot program saved Copley Township about $50,000 in one year. That total alone would represent about three-and-a-half percent of the township's 2013 appropriations for fire and EMS services.

"We immediately saved by not having to spend that money and by doing it together," Benson said. "And of course we are hoping for savings every year."

Copley Trustee Helen Humphrys cited cuts in the state's local government fund and the elimination of the estate tax as reasons why she explores cost-saving collabortion projects.

"The key thing is regional," Humphrys said. "I know regionalism for some people is upsetting, but Copley is no good if the city of Akron and city of Fairlawn fails or the city of Barberton, because it'

s like a cancer. It spreads the failure."

But the move wasn't only about the money. Benson said improved technology allows residents to text or FaceTime for EMS squads.

"None of us could've done it if we had not done it together," he said.

Elsewhere in Summit County, the city of Green estimates that it saves about 7 to 8 percent of its $24.6 million annual budget through shared services. Nearly $2 million of that annual savings is through services provided under contract by the county. Green also uses the Summit County Sheriff's Office as its police force.

Randy Cole, Ohio Controlling Board president and policy adviser for Gov. John Kasich, said governments in the Cleveland and Akron area are leaders in collaboration, partly in response to economic hardship that predates the most recent recession.

"There's been that culture up there for a long time," Cole said. "A big part, I'd say, has been what happened with the economy, due to changes in steel manufacturing through the 70s and 80s. There's been this recognition that they need to collaborate, [and] need to transform the way they provide their services for a long period of time."

And it's not a situation that some think will improve any time soon.

The Northeast Ohio Sustainable Communities Consortium — a coalition of governments, colleges and non-profits — estimates that if no changes are made before 2040, local government expenses in twelve Northeast Ohio counties could exceed revenue by more than 33 percent.

For Cole, troubling projections like that pose one question: "How do we safeguard ourselves ... if there's another economic downturn?"

And by "safeguard," Cole means cut out the redundancy — a task especially pertinent in Cuyahoga County, which is carved into more than 50 municipalities. Cole said cities and townships can't just cut expenses or raise taxes to get themselves out of that dilemma.

From his seat on Cleveland City Council, Jeffrey Johnson doesn't believe the current model of local government in the region is sustainable. He's not waiting for old revenue streams to bounce back, and instead wants his city to merge with its impoverished neighbor, East Cleveland.

"I do believe there's a combination of merger and shared services that has to be pursued," Johnson said. "...If you want to do an efficiency model, then no doubt about it, there are cities that should share trash pickup, snow removal, city services."

Sam Howard is a fellow in Ohio University's E.W. Scripps School of Journalism Statehouse News Bureau. Follow him on Twitter @SamuelHHoward.